Ambedkarism is called as the teaching, ideology or philosophy of B.R. Ambedkar, an Indian economist, barrister, social reformer, and the first of

Minister of Law and Justice The minister of law and justice is the head of the Ministry of Law and Justice and one of the cabinet ministers of the Government of India. The first law and justice minister of independent India was B. R. Ambedkar, who served in first Neh ...

in the first cabinet of Jawaharlal Nehru. Ambedkarism includes special focus on subjects such as fraternity, democracy, communal electorates, conversion out of

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

, political power, rule of law,

Navayana ''Navayāna'' (Devanagari: नवयान, IAST: ''Navayāna'', meaning "New Vehicle"), otherwise known as Navayāna Buddhism, refers to the Engaged Buddhism, socially engaged Buddhist schools, school of Buddhism founded and developed by th ...

, among others. An Ambedkarite is one who follows the

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

of Ambedkar. Icons of Ambedkarite ideology also include

Periyar Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy (17 September 187924 December 1973), commonly known as Periyar, was an Indian social activist and politician. He was the organizer of the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam and is considered the architect o ...

Jyotirao Phule Jyotirao Phule (11 April 1827 – 28 November 1890), also known as Jyotiba Phule, was an Indian social activist, businessman, anti-caste social reformer and writer from Maharashtra. His work extended to many fields, including eradication of ...

and others.

Social philosophy

According to B. R. Ambedkar "Society is always composed of Classes." Their foundations could be different. A person in a society is always a member of a class, whether it is economic, intellectual, or social. This is a universal truth, and early

Hindu culture Hinduism () is an umbrella term for a range of Indian religious and spiritual traditions ( ''sampradaya''s) that are unified by adherence to the concept of ''dharma'', a cosmic order maintained by its followers through rituals and right ...

could not have been an exception to this rule, and we know it wasn't. So, which class was the first to transform into a caste, because class and caste are, in a sense, next-door neighbours, separated only by a chasm. "A caste is a closed social group." Untouchables were forced to not wear good clothes but for Ambedkar, the suit was a strategy for political resistance, an assertion of power, a means to break the caste barrier in a society that is caste ridden. Ambedkar proposed a

Separate Electorate In India, a number of political positions and university posts are held for specific groups of the population, including Scheduled Castes(SC) and Scheduled Tribes(ST), and women in some cases. There are reserved constituencies both Parliame ...

for the untouchables to send their own representatives in assembly but it was opposed by Gandhi and resulted in his defeat after the

Poona Pact The Poona Pact of 1932 was a negotiated settlement between Mahatma Gandhi and B. R. Ambedkar that increased the political representation of the depressed classes, now known as Scheduled Castes (SC). The Poona Pact was an agreement between nom ...

but later he advocated for the establishment of Settlement Commission that would provide separate villages for the Scheduled Castes.

References

Sources

* {{cite book , last1=Omvedt , first1=Gail , title=Buddhism in India: Challenging Brahmanism and Caste , date=18 August 2003 , publisher=SAGE Publications , isbn=978-0-7619-9664-4 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rSF8b5hbyP0C , language=en B. R. Ambedkar

Social philosophy

See also

References

Sources